Merry Christmas to all! I hope that as you read this you are enjoying loved ones, and remembering the powerful truth of God's love.
I thought I'd share part of our Christmas this year. Clara and I have been reading through all the Christmas chapters from the Little House books at bedtime and naptime lately. All of them are fabulous, but one in particular is my favorite. This one is from Little House on the Prairie, when Pa had finished the little house, but they lived a long way from town and had very little money. They wouldn't have had any Christmas at all if it weren't for their neighbor, Mr. Edwards, who braved a raging creek to bring the girls' gifts from town. And, oh, what gifts they are! Read on! (Lala--you'll remember this story well. I remember you reading it to a bunch of us English grad students years ago.)
"Something was shining bright in the top of Laura's stocking, she squealed and jumped out of bed. So did Mary, but Laura beat her to the fireplace. And the shining thing was a glittering new tin cup.
Mary had one exactly like it.
Those new tin cups were their very own. Now they each had a cup to drink out of. Laura jumped up and down and shouted and laughed, but Mary stood still and looked with shining eyes at her own tin cup.
Then they plunged their hands into the stockings again. And they pulled out two long, long sticks of candy. It was peppermint candy, striped red and white. They looked and looked at the beautiful candy, and Laura licked her stick, just one lick. But Mary was not so greedy. She didn't take even one lick of her stick.
Those stockings weren't empty yet. Mary and Laura pulled out two small packages. They unwrapped them, and each found a little heart-shaped cake. Over their delicate brown tops was sprinkled white sugar. The sparkling grains lay like tiny drifts of snow.
The cakes were too pretty to eat. Mary and Laura just looked at them. But at last Laura turned heres over, and she nibbled a tiny nibble from underneath, where it wouldn't show. And the inside of inside of the little cake was white!
It had been made of pure white flour, and sweetened with white sugar.
Laura and Mary never would have looked in their stockings again. The cups and the cakes and the candy were almost too much. They were too happy to speak. But Ma asked if they were sure the stockings were empty.
Then they put their hands down inside them, to make sure.
And in the very toe of each stocking was a shining bright, new penny! They had never had even thought of such a thing as having a penny! Think of a whole penny for your very own. Think of having a cup and and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny.
There had never been such a Christmas."
Okay, it's me again. I've read this particular Christmas tale to Clara several times in the past few days. Clara will recite what Laura and Mary got for Christmas that year, and I love that. I consider reading this story aloud one of my gifts to Clara this year. It's far too late on Christmas Eve for me to spend much more time on this post, but I hope that you, too, enjoy reading about Laura and Mary's best-ever Christmas when they got "a cup and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny."
Friday, December 25, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Sun is Nice
Right now, I'm sitting looking out on my parents' backyard and, beyond that, the California hills bathed in warm sun. It's nice. Real nice. I just caught sight of an enormous hawk as it flew to a perch in a grove of eucalyptus trees. I'm currently not feeling too bad about leaving Houston behind.
We had a long day last Friday, the day we left. Evan woke me up at 5 am to get started on the day. Considering we didn't go to bed until 12:30 am, California time, it took me two days to recover from that early morning. Anyway, Friday was full of packing and readying our house for our absence. I managed to pack everything, except Evan's athletic shoes and his brown belt. So I guess Evan will not exercise, but that'll be okay 'cause then he won't need the belt I forgot! Clara was very concerned that I pack her toothbrush and checked with me several times to make sure it was in the suitcase. I'm not sure why she was so worried--it's not like she loves brushing her teeth.
We had an evening flight, and Clara was an angel, as usual. She played with her new Polly Pocket, and assorted tiny toys. Amazingly, we didn't lose any of them on the plane. Our flight was longer than usual due to a head wind. And our landing was kind of scary. We were about to land on the runway--it was RIGHT below us--when the captain pulled the plane up suddenly and accelerated in an alarming way. I tried to appear unconcerned (and so did everyone around us), but it was sort of disconcerting. Clara began questioning, "Are we on the ground? Why didn't we land on the ground?" We circled out over the ocean and came back around, and finally the captain announced that due to weather we had to call off the previous landing and were going to try again with a longer descent. And it worked! Everyone was relieved. I didn't realize how alarmed Clara had been until she told me that she was thankful and needed to say a prayer. So she clasped her hands together and said, "Thank you God for our captain landing our plane on the ground. Amen." Then she insisted that Evan and I also say a thank you prayer. Everyone around was amused. But I really was thankful. It was a long flight and I was SO ready to be on the ground. So was Clara. And Evan.
On Saturday morning, Evan, Clara, my mom, and I went to the Escondido Christmas parade just for a little while. But to get there, we had to hike over a monster hill and then back and now my calves are SO sore. I'm not used to hills, of ANY sort. Apparently, I need to take advantage of them while I'm here because my legs are weak, flat-land legs.
That's the news.
We had a long day last Friday, the day we left. Evan woke me up at 5 am to get started on the day. Considering we didn't go to bed until 12:30 am, California time, it took me two days to recover from that early morning. Anyway, Friday was full of packing and readying our house for our absence. I managed to pack everything, except Evan's athletic shoes and his brown belt. So I guess Evan will not exercise, but that'll be okay 'cause then he won't need the belt I forgot! Clara was very concerned that I pack her toothbrush and checked with me several times to make sure it was in the suitcase. I'm not sure why she was so worried--it's not like she loves brushing her teeth.
We had an evening flight, and Clara was an angel, as usual. She played with her new Polly Pocket, and assorted tiny toys. Amazingly, we didn't lose any of them on the plane. Our flight was longer than usual due to a head wind. And our landing was kind of scary. We were about to land on the runway--it was RIGHT below us--when the captain pulled the plane up suddenly and accelerated in an alarming way. I tried to appear unconcerned (and so did everyone around us), but it was sort of disconcerting. Clara began questioning, "Are we on the ground? Why didn't we land on the ground?" We circled out over the ocean and came back around, and finally the captain announced that due to weather we had to call off the previous landing and were going to try again with a longer descent. And it worked! Everyone was relieved. I didn't realize how alarmed Clara had been until she told me that she was thankful and needed to say a prayer. So she clasped her hands together and said, "Thank you God for our captain landing our plane on the ground. Amen." Then she insisted that Evan and I also say a thank you prayer. Everyone around was amused. But I really was thankful. It was a long flight and I was SO ready to be on the ground. So was Clara. And Evan.
On Saturday morning, Evan, Clara, my mom, and I went to the Escondido Christmas parade just for a little while. But to get there, we had to hike over a monster hill and then back and now my calves are SO sore. I'm not used to hills, of ANY sort. Apparently, I need to take advantage of them while I'm here because my legs are weak, flat-land legs.
That's the news.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Clara Gems
A few Clara gems for those who care.
She listens to her recording of Little House in the Big Woods every night now. She loves the part about the Wilder family trip to the town of Pepin. She said to me, "Laura and Mary and never even seen two houses together before!" (Imagine that sentence with no 'r's to know how she said it.) Her exposure to the Little House world shows itself in other ways: the other day a neighbor's dog was barking as we left Nathan and Katie's house, and Clara clung to my legs and asked in a scared voice, "Is that a woof [wolf]?" Or, as I left her in her room for rest time today, she said, "How can a bear kill a pig? A bear doesn't have a gun." This question totally caught me off guard, but then I remembered the part in Little House where Pa chases off a bear trying to kill the family pig, and it all made sense. On one of our recent cold days, Clara said to me, "Laura and Mary were cold too, and they didn't even have a space heater!"
Last week, I took Clara for a check-up at her new pediatrician's office, which is located in the hospital complex down the street. I parked the car and then realized that we were still quite far from the particular building we needed, so I pulled out of the parking spot. And Clara asked, "Were those people wicked?" As you can imagine, I was confused. We don't usually identify other people as wicked around here, unless we're talking about a wicked witch in a fairy tale, or something. I asked her to explain, and she just repeated the question, "Were those people wicked?" I gave up, and attended to the business of re-parking the car. Then Clara said, "Are these people not wicked? Can we park here?" I then realized that by wicked, she really meant, "crooked." I do sometimes decide against a parking spot because people are crooked (but not wicked).
A few days ago, Evan was trying to help me by dressing Clara in the morning. I had directed him to put leggings on under her jeans, and when in her room, he pulled out some tights for her. Clara looked up at him and in a tone that can only be described as patient, said, "Daddy, those are tights. Not leggings." I'm sure she was pitying him for his density.
Last week, Clara and I made and decorated cut-out cookies for Evan's students. During the decorating stage, Clara was quite good about following my instructions NOT to sample the frosting or sprinkles. (We were, after all, making these for others.) Anyway, she had no idea of the yummy goodness she was foregoing, and kept informing Henry, "I'm salting the cookies!" or "This cookie needs more red salt!" After we were all done, I let her scrape the frosting off the plates we had used and her eyes got huge at the first taste.
Speaking of Henry . . . one day, a while ago, I asked Clara what she would think if we had a baby brother for her and named him Henry. She got very quiet. Then she said in a small voice, "But I already have a Henry."
She listens to her recording of Little House in the Big Woods every night now. She loves the part about the Wilder family trip to the town of Pepin. She said to me, "Laura and Mary and never even seen two houses together before!" (Imagine that sentence with no 'r's to know how she said it.) Her exposure to the Little House world shows itself in other ways: the other day a neighbor's dog was barking as we left Nathan and Katie's house, and Clara clung to my legs and asked in a scared voice, "Is that a woof [wolf]?" Or, as I left her in her room for rest time today, she said, "How can a bear kill a pig? A bear doesn't have a gun." This question totally caught me off guard, but then I remembered the part in Little House where Pa chases off a bear trying to kill the family pig, and it all made sense. On one of our recent cold days, Clara said to me, "Laura and Mary were cold too, and they didn't even have a space heater!"
Last week, I took Clara for a check-up at her new pediatrician's office, which is located in the hospital complex down the street. I parked the car and then realized that we were still quite far from the particular building we needed, so I pulled out of the parking spot. And Clara asked, "Were those people wicked?" As you can imagine, I was confused. We don't usually identify other people as wicked around here, unless we're talking about a wicked witch in a fairy tale, or something. I asked her to explain, and she just repeated the question, "Were those people wicked?" I gave up, and attended to the business of re-parking the car. Then Clara said, "Are these people not wicked? Can we park here?" I then realized that by wicked, she really meant, "crooked." I do sometimes decide against a parking spot because people are crooked (but not wicked).
A few days ago, Evan was trying to help me by dressing Clara in the morning. I had directed him to put leggings on under her jeans, and when in her room, he pulled out some tights for her. Clara looked up at him and in a tone that can only be described as patient, said, "Daddy, those are tights. Not leggings." I'm sure she was pitying him for his density.
Last week, Clara and I made and decorated cut-out cookies for Evan's students. During the decorating stage, Clara was quite good about following my instructions NOT to sample the frosting or sprinkles. (We were, after all, making these for others.) Anyway, she had no idea of the yummy goodness she was foregoing, and kept informing Henry, "I'm salting the cookies!" or "This cookie needs more red salt!" After we were all done, I let her scrape the frosting off the plates we had used and her eyes got huge at the first taste.
Speaking of Henry . . . one day, a while ago, I asked Clara what she would think if we had a baby brother for her and named him Henry. She got very quiet. Then she said in a small voice, "But I already have a Henry."
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Colder! (and pregnant-lady thoughts )
Every morning, Clara and I spend at least half an hour snuggling in the big bed, drinking tea, eating biscotti, staying warm. Yesterday as we sat together, I noticed that the rain outside looked different. Because it wasn't rain--it was SNOW! The two of us quickly dressed and went out to experience the snow. Clara stood outside for about thirty-seconds and then said, "I hate the cold. Let's go inside." So much for child-like wonder.
It snowed all day long. It was really quite pretty--not much of it stuck to the wet ground, but the grass did get a fair covering. We could have played in it had my darling daughter not been such a stick in the mud. Instead, we did our best to stay warm in our house. We lit candles because the sight of fire makes me feel cozy. I baked up the rest of the Christmas cookies I had originally made for Evan's students. And then I set the oven to do a self-clean. Good day for it. But it was still pretty darn cold in the house. We went to Nathan and Katie's for the evening--thanks guys!
This morning when we woke up, the thermostat read 47 degrees. Brrr-zeee. Evan talked me into going to garage sales. It's not like we were cozy and warm inside our house, all hesitant to brave the cold. Surprisingly, there were people dragging their stuff out in the sub-freezing temperatures. And we found a few good things for the new baby. Clara, not surprisingly, complained of the cold, despite being warmly bundled. She kept telling me, "I'm uncomfortable!" Poor baby.
So . . . about the new baby, I'm discovering I'm not the same woman I was when I was pregnant with Clara. Last time around, I enjoyed visits to my OB (he was pretty wonderful), and was excited about stuff like the 20-week ultrasound and planning for the birth. This time, I have a totally different attitude towards doctors and hospitals. My surgery last January went as well as could possibly be expected; I had a truly amazing surgeon; and my nurses were SO kind. But I now dislike the hospital, and I dread ever going into one again. I also hate medical tests, and, most of all, I hate the whole billing and insurance rigmarole. Evan and I have already decided that a hospital birth is right for our family for a number of reasons, but I absolutely dread the birth because I'm anxious about having to be in a hospital. And even though I like my OB, I drag myself to the doctor's appointments reluctantly. I'm excited about the baby, but I find that all of the medical stuff surrounding the pregnancy and birth is really getting me down. I guess what it all comes down to is this--I'm weary of the medical establishment right now, and the medical stuff surrounding pregnancy and birth is just hard for me. I need to somehow escape it and focus on another aspect of having a baby; at this point, I mostly only think or talk about the baby when I'm at the doctor's or have just come from the doctor's. Maybe I need to think about and plan for the baby in a more positive setting? Hmmm . . . thanks for reading my thoughts as I process them! Any suggestions for me?
It snowed all day long. It was really quite pretty--not much of it stuck to the wet ground, but the grass did get a fair covering. We could have played in it had my darling daughter not been such a stick in the mud. Instead, we did our best to stay warm in our house. We lit candles because the sight of fire makes me feel cozy. I baked up the rest of the Christmas cookies I had originally made for Evan's students. And then I set the oven to do a self-clean. Good day for it. But it was still pretty darn cold in the house. We went to Nathan and Katie's for the evening--thanks guys!
This morning when we woke up, the thermostat read 47 degrees. Brrr-zeee. Evan talked me into going to garage sales. It's not like we were cozy and warm inside our house, all hesitant to brave the cold. Surprisingly, there were people dragging their stuff out in the sub-freezing temperatures. And we found a few good things for the new baby. Clara, not surprisingly, complained of the cold, despite being warmly bundled. She kept telling me, "I'm uncomfortable!" Poor baby.
So . . . about the new baby, I'm discovering I'm not the same woman I was when I was pregnant with Clara. Last time around, I enjoyed visits to my OB (he was pretty wonderful), and was excited about stuff like the 20-week ultrasound and planning for the birth. This time, I have a totally different attitude towards doctors and hospitals. My surgery last January went as well as could possibly be expected; I had a truly amazing surgeon; and my nurses were SO kind. But I now dislike the hospital, and I dread ever going into one again. I also hate medical tests, and, most of all, I hate the whole billing and insurance rigmarole. Evan and I have already decided that a hospital birth is right for our family for a number of reasons, but I absolutely dread the birth because I'm anxious about having to be in a hospital. And even though I like my OB, I drag myself to the doctor's appointments reluctantly. I'm excited about the baby, but I find that all of the medical stuff surrounding the pregnancy and birth is really getting me down. I guess what it all comes down to is this--I'm weary of the medical establishment right now, and the medical stuff surrounding pregnancy and birth is just hard for me. I need to somehow escape it and focus on another aspect of having a baby; at this point, I mostly only think or talk about the baby when I'm at the doctor's or have just come from the doctor's. Maybe I need to think about and plan for the baby in a more positive setting? Hmmm . . . thanks for reading my thoughts as I process them! Any suggestions for me?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
I'm Cold
Yes, it's true. I live in Houston AND I'm cold. The high today is something like 50 degrees and it's about two degrees warmer inside the house. My blood is thin from acclimation to the heat, and I can't take the cold. Our central heat is broken, you see. The furnace lies in pieces in the attic, and if we were to resurrect it, it would probably kill us with carbon monoxide. I think we'll try to save up for two things: insulation before next summer and a new furnace before next winter. But if that doesn't happen . . .
Here are my thoughts on energy efficient (i.e. cheap) ways to beat the temperatures, be they hot or cold. (Here is also a little glimpse into the way the Getzes do things.)
Ways to stay cool in Houston summers: 1) Put on your bathing suit and get in the shower. Dry off a just enough so you don't make wet spots on the furniture and then enjoy your own personal air conditioning system. 2) If you have tile in your house, sit on the tile in front of a fan. (I learned that one from my parents--we had no AC while I was growing up. Don't you feel sorry for me?) 3) Set a baby pool in the shade, and fill it with water. While the kids play, soak your feet. 4) And Clara's personal favorite, if you're under five, just strip down to your underwear and beat the heat naked.
Ways to stay warm in the winter if you live somewhere where heat is not an absolute necessity but is a nice luxury: 1) Flannel sheets. I bought some at a Black Friday sale. Yes, I DID go out, and I'm glad I did because we have been much warmer at night since then. 2) Space heaters. It feels like baby torture to put Clara to bed in a room that's freezing. She doesn't stay under the covers so well. So we got her a nice space heater that turns on when it gets too cold. Evan and I, on the other hand, are limping along with a rusty $2 space heater from a garage sale. I don't trust it to be on when I'm not awake. But you know what? It's the one "AS SEEN ON WILL AND GRACE." Seriously, that's what it says on top. 3) Down comforters. They work. 4) Lots and lots of baking. I have to bake every day lately, just to stay warm! 5) Exercise! When Clara and I get too cold, she actually suggests that we "do a little exercise." So we pop in her favorite exercise DVD (yes, she has a favorite) and "get ready for some heart-pumping booty-shaking moves." That's how the words "booty-shaking" have made their way into her vocabulary, just in case you were wondering. 6) And Clara's personal favorite again: cuddle under a blanket with someone bigger and warmer.
So there you have it. Ways that we deal with less-than-ideal temperatures here in Houston. When it's hot, it's REAL hot. When it's cold, it's only sort of cold but it feels real cold because we're used to REAL hot.
Aren't you sometimes amazed at how our bodies crave comfort? We have this tiny zone of acceptable temperatures and spend a lot of money and time trying to stay within that zone. When we're prevented from attaining our comfort, it's startling to realize how much we love it.
Anyway, I'm off to find my fuzzy slippers. My feet are frozen. :)
Here are my thoughts on energy efficient (i.e. cheap) ways to beat the temperatures, be they hot or cold. (Here is also a little glimpse into the way the Getzes do things.)
Ways to stay cool in Houston summers: 1) Put on your bathing suit and get in the shower. Dry off a just enough so you don't make wet spots on the furniture and then enjoy your own personal air conditioning system. 2) If you have tile in your house, sit on the tile in front of a fan. (I learned that one from my parents--we had no AC while I was growing up. Don't you feel sorry for me?) 3) Set a baby pool in the shade, and fill it with water. While the kids play, soak your feet. 4) And Clara's personal favorite, if you're under five, just strip down to your underwear and beat the heat naked.
Ways to stay warm in the winter if you live somewhere where heat is not an absolute necessity but is a nice luxury: 1) Flannel sheets. I bought some at a Black Friday sale. Yes, I DID go out, and I'm glad I did because we have been much warmer at night since then. 2) Space heaters. It feels like baby torture to put Clara to bed in a room that's freezing. She doesn't stay under the covers so well. So we got her a nice space heater that turns on when it gets too cold. Evan and I, on the other hand, are limping along with a rusty $2 space heater from a garage sale. I don't trust it to be on when I'm not awake. But you know what? It's the one "AS SEEN ON WILL AND GRACE." Seriously, that's what it says on top. 3) Down comforters. They work. 4) Lots and lots of baking. I have to bake every day lately, just to stay warm! 5) Exercise! When Clara and I get too cold, she actually suggests that we "do a little exercise." So we pop in her favorite exercise DVD (yes, she has a favorite) and "get ready for some heart-pumping booty-shaking moves." That's how the words "booty-shaking" have made their way into her vocabulary, just in case you were wondering. 6) And Clara's personal favorite again: cuddle under a blanket with someone bigger and warmer.
So there you have it. Ways that we deal with less-than-ideal temperatures here in Houston. When it's hot, it's REAL hot. When it's cold, it's only sort of cold but it feels real cold because we're used to REAL hot.
Aren't you sometimes amazed at how our bodies crave comfort? We have this tiny zone of acceptable temperatures and spend a lot of money and time trying to stay within that zone. When we're prevented from attaining our comfort, it's startling to realize how much we love it.
Anyway, I'm off to find my fuzzy slippers. My feet are frozen. :)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Smokin'
Our Thanksgiving story begins several weeks ago at a garage sale. Evan bought Lil' Smoky, an ancient electric smoker. I don't know about you, but I think Lil' Smoky looks a lil' scary. But Evan was determined to smoke our Thanksgiving turkey in it. We really should have done a test run before the big day, but we've been busy. So, bright and early (and cold) we were up on Thanksgiving morning, emptying the brine water from our turkey and prepping it for smoking. Our goal was to get it smoking by 7:30 am. At 7:42, we were set to go. But wait. No heat. No smoke. Shoot. In a panic, Evan returned to the internet (what would we do without it?) and researched a bit more. He discovered that we were doing several things wrong and we fixed those things. Still nothing. THEN, we discovered that the outlet we were using was our problem. Okay. Fixed that. Turkey IN smoker and smoking at 8:42 am. Here's how it looked. Brrrr.
"Anyone want to see it at roughly 1:30 pm?" Evan says.
You do? Well . . . it looked yummy. And smelled like a turkey campfire.
While I carved it up, everyone circled around. The first taste of it was amazing. Seriously. Best turkey ever. Go us.
Aww, aren't we cute? (I'm thankful for timers on cameras.)
Our feast was really just the basics. And it was all GOOD and from scratch--except for the onion topping on the green beans, but nothing else came from a can or box. Aren't you impressed? Honestly, if you need recipes for smoked turkey, cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, cracked wheat rolls, green beans, or roasted carrots, contact me or Katie. I don't usually get all worked up about food, but last night as I fell asleep, I smiled remembering my plate:
Oh, and let's not forget dessert. Crustless apple pie anyone? (Also known as Swedish apple pie, I think.) It was tasty. Not pictured: a pumpkin pie that cracked in the middle. I had to make that one for tradition sake, but it wasn't anything to write home about. The apple pie, on the other hand, was sure appealing.
How about we end with a picture of a little (cranky) cutie enjoying dessert?
This year, I'm so thankful that we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with family that lives in town! Two miles away! We also celebrated Black Friday together--but that's a post for a different day.
"Anyone want to see it at roughly 1:30 pm?" Evan says.
You do? Well . . . it looked yummy. And smelled like a turkey campfire.
While I carved it up, everyone circled around. The first taste of it was amazing. Seriously. Best turkey ever. Go us. Aww, aren't we cute? (I'm thankful for timers on cameras.)
Our feast was really just the basics. And it was all GOOD and from scratch--except for the onion topping on the green beans, but nothing else came from a can or box. Aren't you impressed? Honestly, if you need recipes for smoked turkey, cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, cracked wheat rolls, green beans, or roasted carrots, contact me or Katie. I don't usually get all worked up about food, but last night as I fell asleep, I smiled remembering my plate:
Oh, and let's not forget dessert. Crustless apple pie anyone? (Also known as Swedish apple pie, I think.) It was tasty. Not pictured: a pumpkin pie that cracked in the middle. I had to make that one for tradition sake, but it wasn't anything to write home about. The apple pie, on the other hand, was sure appealing.
How about we end with a picture of a little (cranky) cutie enjoying dessert?
This year, I'm so thankful that we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with family that lives in town! Two miles away! We also celebrated Black Friday together--but that's a post for a different day.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Maternal Musings
All this evening, Clara has pretended that she's pregnant with Henry, Buddy-Buddy, and Buddy-Bun. (Buddy-Buddy and Buddy-Bun are her other two imaginary friends; they're usually Henry's parents, but they come in handy for other imaginative games.) First, they were kicking SO hard. You should have felt her tummy! Then, it was time for them to come out. She asked for directions to the doctor's and ran off to the other part of the house. When she came back, she informed me that she pushed really hard and got the babies out. Now, she's making little beds out of folded toilet paper for her babies. Oh, and she's nursing them (or, as she says, "milking" them.)
Tomorrow is officially the last day of my first trimester. I'm already feeling much better. I've realized something about the spacing of children. Having them farther apart might be easier once the new baby is born, but it can make for a harder pregnancy because your child doesn't need that much sleep, which means the pregnant woman doesn't get much sleep. (By the way, I'm not at all arguing that we're spacing our children ideally. In fact, we would have liked to have had another child sooner if my body had been equal to the task of pregnancy.)
Anyway, I'm glad to have more energy now because little Miss Imagination doesn't need all that much sleep anymore. If she falls asleep during rest time, then she usually doesn't need to go to sleep until at least 9:30, usually later. Obviously, Clara no longer needs a nap. But she is in the habit of falling asleep in the afternoons, and since I insist upon a rest time (for the sake of my sanity and dissertation), she often naps. We have discovered the joy of books on tape, which has helped. Clara has her own "boom box" in her bedroom now and she has gotten into the habit of listening to a reading of Little House in the Big Woods for about an hour every night between 9 and 10. She loves it. She's started saying things like, "Mercy, Charles" and talks about wagons and wild animals in the woods. I love it too. Not only do I also love Little House in the Big Woods, but Clara's new habit means that I can go to sleep around 9 pm every night and let Evan supervise the turning over of tapes, etc.
In other news, Clara is sick. Again. Some people may think I'm nuts with my alcohol-based hand sanitizer, hand washing, and habit of wiping down every grocery cart, etc., but, seriously, Clara gets sick so easily. And if it were just a runny nose and slight fever, it wouldn't be too bad. But every time she gets a cold, she gets at least a mild case of croup. It's miserable. It's also a good thing we live in a humid climate, otherwise, we might have a serious problem on our hands. As it is, we humidify the house thoroughly and keep her room quite moist at night. And when she wakes up coughing, we settle down in the bathroom for some real hair-curling humidity. About a month ago, she got sick and I got her the steroid to treat croup, and I have a feeling that if she gets sick in CA we'll have to put her on medication, what with the drier climate and all, so I really don't want to medicate this time. I'm hoping that she'll sleep soundly tonight and not be too bothered by the cough. If your child is not troubled by croup, be thankful.
On the bright side, we all stayed home from church because Clara was sick. We had a great, quiet family day, which included whole grain pancakes and grapefruit, mowing the lawn, sweeping, buying a Thanksgiving turkey, a board game, naptime for all, and, our Sunday-evening tradition, popcorn and smoothies for dinner. All things considered, a nice day.
Tomorrow is officially the last day of my first trimester. I'm already feeling much better. I've realized something about the spacing of children. Having them farther apart might be easier once the new baby is born, but it can make for a harder pregnancy because your child doesn't need that much sleep, which means the pregnant woman doesn't get much sleep. (By the way, I'm not at all arguing that we're spacing our children ideally. In fact, we would have liked to have had another child sooner if my body had been equal to the task of pregnancy.)
Anyway, I'm glad to have more energy now because little Miss Imagination doesn't need all that much sleep anymore. If she falls asleep during rest time, then she usually doesn't need to go to sleep until at least 9:30, usually later. Obviously, Clara no longer needs a nap. But she is in the habit of falling asleep in the afternoons, and since I insist upon a rest time (for the sake of my sanity and dissertation), she often naps. We have discovered the joy of books on tape, which has helped. Clara has her own "boom box" in her bedroom now and she has gotten into the habit of listening to a reading of Little House in the Big Woods for about an hour every night between 9 and 10. She loves it. She's started saying things like, "Mercy, Charles" and talks about wagons and wild animals in the woods. I love it too. Not only do I also love Little House in the Big Woods, but Clara's new habit means that I can go to sleep around 9 pm every night and let Evan supervise the turning over of tapes, etc.
In other news, Clara is sick. Again. Some people may think I'm nuts with my alcohol-based hand sanitizer, hand washing, and habit of wiping down every grocery cart, etc., but, seriously, Clara gets sick so easily. And if it were just a runny nose and slight fever, it wouldn't be too bad. But every time she gets a cold, she gets at least a mild case of croup. It's miserable. It's also a good thing we live in a humid climate, otherwise, we might have a serious problem on our hands. As it is, we humidify the house thoroughly and keep her room quite moist at night. And when she wakes up coughing, we settle down in the bathroom for some real hair-curling humidity. About a month ago, she got sick and I got her the steroid to treat croup, and I have a feeling that if she gets sick in CA we'll have to put her on medication, what with the drier climate and all, so I really don't want to medicate this time. I'm hoping that she'll sleep soundly tonight and not be too bothered by the cough. If your child is not troubled by croup, be thankful.
On the bright side, we all stayed home from church because Clara was sick. We had a great, quiet family day, which included whole grain pancakes and grapefruit, mowing the lawn, sweeping, buying a Thanksgiving turkey, a board game, naptime for all, and, our Sunday-evening tradition, popcorn and smoothies for dinner. All things considered, a nice day.
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